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Are there any applications that can turn an old smart phone into a wildlife/security camera? (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Have been thinking about this for a couple years. I have old phones kicking around. Battery shot, hardware dated, but the camera(s) and mic and antennas still work. Would be cool if there were a way to set them up (powered) to stream audio/video or even take stills at intervals (or motion-activated) and then sync the content to the rest of the devices on my network.

I don't know how complex the programming for something like this would be. But I suspect it's trivial for those who do know.

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[–] -4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I'm not aware of software to achieve this, but I assume it wouldn't be possible to activate the camera based on motion detection, as the phones do not have hardware for this. Sure, it could be possible to have the camera working 24/7 and only record when there's movement in front of it (e.g. watching for pixel changes in the image being captured) but I doubt these cameras can sustain that kind of uninterrupted use, meaning at some point they will just fail. Just my thoughts, as I find the idea interesting but would love to have that same kind of solution.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I doubt these cameras can sustain that kind of uninterrupted use,

    I had an old HTC phone that I used as a garage security camera for 2-3 years straight. It had to be restarted every couple months, but otherwise worked fine. Now you can get a $20 IP camera that surpasses it in every way tho.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The camera is on all the time, the recording/streaming only starts when requested or on motion detection. Did you expect a PIR sensor on a phone?

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The camera is on all the time

    That's what I meant: I don't know (as in I have zero clue) the camera is designed to operate that way. Is a naive assumption on my side and I'd be glad to learn this is not the case.

    PIR sensor

    No, I didn't expect a sensor, that's what I tried to say: the hardware is not there, so (on my mind) a constant image analysis/monitoring would be necessary in order to perceive movement and start recording, as in writing video to storage.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't know (as in I have zero clue) the camera is designed to operate that way.

    There is no reason a camera cannot be on all the time other than power consumption. Why couldn't it? The only limitation is software. Other parts of a phone can overheat from continuous operation (CPU et al., voltage converters, maybe flash LED and vibration motor) but not the camera.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    There is no reason a camera cannot be on all the time... Why couldn't it?

    Sensor wear, mechanical parts (if any), heat, etc. Essentially wear and tear. Just like nothing lasts forever, using it in a way that it's not intended/tested/quality assured, may reduce its lifespan.

    Basically: "is the device intended to be on and recording 24/7?"

    • yes: good, the device should last and perform for its purpose
    • no: well, let's gamble and see how long it lasts
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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Sensor wear

    This does not happen AFAIK. Most phones have no shutters so tge sensors receive light all the time, and the little required power does not overheat it.

    mechanical parts (if any)

    This is a valid point but the actuators in a phone camera's focusing mechanism are more like a speaker than a motor. They can last for ages, and many apps allow disabling autofocus when idle.

    heat

    This one is valid. Even basic image processing is a load on the CPU, and recording/streaming definitely is. Depends on how the camera is mounted to allow airflow.

    gamble and see how long it lasts

    Sure. The stakes are not very high if the phone would otherwise lay in a drawer.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    That should be possible. There was an old security cam app for the iMac built in camera that would do this. There was no motion sensor — you just stepped out of frame to take a “still” image and then the app would monitor for changes compared to it.

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